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EXTRA · MADRID 2-1 INTER. MOURINHO'S FIRST CHAMPIONS NIGHT BACK.

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MADRID 2-1 INTER. MOURINHO'S FIRST CHAMPIONS NIGHT BACK.

Mbappé and Valverde. Courtois in the 89th. The Extra does not invent the Inter scorer.

Desk file · 8 SEP 2026 · 07:55 GMT

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EXTRANTH MERIDIAN
Floodlit European stadium at night, two players seen from behind near the box, ball in the air, no identifiable faces or crests

Real Madrid beat Inter 2-1. José Mourinho’s first Champions League night of his second spell at the club is a win against the team he once took to a European Cup. That is the file. The score is closed. The romance is not.

The Guardian match report, by Sid Lowe at the Bernabéu, is the verification. This Extra uses it to check the facts. It does not lift Guardian sentences. It does not invent a quote for Mourinho, Mbappé, Valverde or anyone in a black and blue shirt.

Madrid led 2-0 at half-time. Kylian Mbappé scored. Fede Valverde scored. The Guardian timed Mbappé’s goal in the 14th minute and Valverde’s in the 23rd. Those minutes are on the check. This Extra will not add a third Madrid name.

Inter scored. The final is 2-1, not 2-0. The Guardian’s own hed said Madrid clung on. Clinging is a 2-1, not a cruise. Who put Inter’s goal in the net is not locked on the verification line this desk used. This Extra will not pick a name to look complete.

Thibaut Courtois is the reason the 2-1 held. The Guardian recorded an astonishing save in the 89th minute. It also logged an outrageous double stop on 55 minutes and a save from Alessandro Bastoni on the hour. Those are the stops on the sheet. This Extra does not grade them, rank them, or turn them into a prize argument.

The shot count on the Guardian file: 37 in the match. The goalkeepers shared thirteen saves. Courtois six, Martínez five, on that count. Inter led the shooting 12-3 at one point. Leading the shooting is not leading the score. Madrid led the score.

Mourinho versus Inter is history walking onto a pitch, not a result. He has done Inter before. He has done Madrid before. This night is the first Champions League date of the second Madrid spell. The Guardian said so. This Extra does not write a memoir around it. It does not claim a trophy. It does not forecast a league-phase table, a knockout, or a final in May.

What is not confirmed here: a lineup. An xG table. A referee’s name. A yellow-card list. A possession percentage dressed as a moral. Any claim that Madrid deserved it or Inter were robbed. Thirty-seven shots is a number. Deserving is a column.

The Bernabéu is the venue because that is where the Guardian correspondent sat. This Extra does not invent a crowd figure or a whistle from the stands. It does not post a new line to X.

Nailed down, 8 September 2026, filed 9 September: Real Madrid 2-1 Inter, Champions League, Mbappé 14, Valverde 23, Inter one, Courtois 89th-minute save, 37 shots, thirteen saves shared, Mourinho’s first Champions night of the second spell against his former club. Source: the Guardian match report, 8 September 2026. Sources are for checking. They are not for pasting.

DESK_ID ucl-real-madrid-2-1-inter-mourinho. Verification: Guardian match report, Sid Lowe at the Bernabéu, 8 September 2026 — Real Madrid cling on to beat Inter on Mourinho’s big Champions League night. Confirmation used: 2-1; Mbappé 14, Valverde 23; 2-0 at half; Courtois 89th-minute save; 37 shots; thirteen saves. Inter scorer not locked on the check. No agency photo. No X post. NTH MERIDIAN does not invent details.

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